Creating an Index

See Also

You can use an index to speed access to data in a database table. You create an index by selecting one or more columns in a table that you want to be able to search on. You can use the index once you save the table.

To create an index

1. In your database diagram, select the table you want to index.
   
   
2. Right-click the table, and choose Properties from the shortcut menu.
   
   
3. Choose the Indexes/Keys tab.
   
   
4. Choose New. The Selected index box displays the system-assigned name of the new index.
   
   
5. Under Column name, select the columns you want to index. You can select up to 16 columns. For optimal performance, select only one or two columns.
   
   
6. Specify any other desired settings for the index and then click OK.

The index is created in the database when you save the table or diagram.

Note   Not all databases work with indexes in the same way. For more information, see Database Server Considerations, or consult your database documentation.